DeWayne Walker signed a contract extension in December that could keep him at New Mexico State through 2016.

But Walker is 9-29 in three seasons as Aggies’ football coach. He has all of four victories in 23 WAC games. And, oh, yeah, his program might be headed out of the FBS ranks within a year or two.

To say it’s unlikely Walker will be in Las Cruces through the end of his contract isn’t at all unreasonable.

Like Idaho’s Robb Akey, the 51-year-old Walker, who was UCLA’s defensive coordinator from 2006-08, finds his career in jeopardy.

Oh, he can get a job coaching defense somewhere if he needs to; Walker has friends all over the NFL from his years with the Redskins, Giants and Patriots. But New Mexico State is the 11th stop of his career—and his first time behind the head coach’s desk.

And he’s yet to prove he has the goods to coach a winner.

Walker told Sporting News this week that the Aggies, who improved slightly to 4-9 (2-5 WAC) in 2011, can be a winning team this fall.

“I’m excited about this team,” he said. “This is year four, the year I’ve been kind of waiting on. … When you look at where we were three years ago, year four was always the year in my mind when we wanted to try to make a run and turn the corner.”

No matter how encouraging the coming season looks on the field, its end is widely expected to drop the curtain on WAC football. Can Walker really keep his players, coaching staff and fan base focused on football and in a positive frame of mind?

“This is a good life experience,” he said. “This is good for my players and coaches and myself to really practice on being focused on trying to take care of things that are staring you in the face.”

Walker isn’t thinking long term when it comes to his position at New Mexico State, either. He is taking a page from the philosophical playbook of coaching giant Bill Belichick.

“He told me years ago that when coaches are confident enough to work off one-year contracts and they’re successful, they’re always able to make more money,” Walker said. “He has always worked off one-year contracts because of the confidence level he has in himself. I kind of equate that to I’m on a one-year contract. That’s kind of my approach.”

Walker spent some time recently in Pittsburgh, where close friend Kirby Wilson is an assistant coach with the Steelers. The great Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau gave Walker a simple yet inspiring piece of advice:

“As long as they allow you to play, go play.”

Short of leaving Las Cruces in his rearview mirror, it’s all Walker can do right now.